France beat Croatia to lift FIFA World Cup trophy after 20 years

France beat Croatia 4-2 in final their second FIFA World Cup title. They had previously won it in 1998. After the thrilling contest, Deschamps, who was the captain when they first lifted the World Cup in 1998 became only the 3rd man to win the trophy as a player and a coach.

France beat Croatia 4-2 in final their second FIFA World Cup title. They had previously won it in 1998

France won their second World Cup title after 20 years after beating Croatia 4-2 in Moscow. Deschamps, who was the captain when they first lifted the World Cup in 1998 became only the 3rd man to win the trophy as a player and a coach after Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and Brazil’s Mario Zagallo.

The rollicking first half started with Mandzukic’s header into his own goal in the 18th minute of the game, Perisic then blasted the equaliser to keep his team in contention but Griezmann nonchalantly converting a penalty in the 38th minute to put France back on the lead at the end of the first half.

The game resumed with Pogba scoring in the 61st minute to cushion the lead and Mbappe further widening the gap between the score in the 65th minute, however, Mandzukic in the 69th minute gave Croats some hope with his close interception as Lloris made a howler. But that was it and the Les Bleus dominated the rest of the match.

According to many, the game was anything but predictable as it saw the first ever own goal and the first ever VAR penalty in the FIFA World Cup final.

Croatia’s World Cup journey began with a win over Nigeria before they put on arguably the performance of the tournament with a dismantling of Argentina with a 3-0 victory.

While the French final began in their opener against Australia. They were underwhelming for the majority of the match, needing a penalty from Antoine Griezmann and a late strike from Paul Pogba to see them past the Socceroos. A Kylian Mbappe strike secured their place in the knockout stage before they played, as some would argue, the worst match of the tournament against Denmark in a goalless draw.

After the tournament reached its climax, Luka Modric was named as the best player of the World Cup 2018, while England captain Harry Kane bagged Golden Boot after finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with 6 goals. Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois was awarded the Golden Gloves and Kylian Mbappae was awarded as best young player of the tournament.